British No. 2 Cameron Norrie has been eliminated from the China Open after a 6-3, 6-4 first-round defeat to eighth seed Daniil Medvedev.
Norrie struggled to find his best form in Beijing, with a series of unforced errors allowing Medvedev to control the match. Despite not playing at his peak, the world No. 11 capitalized on weaknesses in Norrie’s forehand, breaking serve five times during the 75-minute encounter. The result is a reversal of their meeting at the French Open earlier this year, where Norrie claimed a memorable five-set victory.
“I think I deserve to win in terms of the game plan and the stats, so I’m happy to go through,” Medvedev said, adding that he still has room for improvement. “I can play much, much better than that. This was a small step forward.” Medvedev will advance to face Spain’s Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the last 16.
In the women’s tournament, British No. 2 Katie Boulter also exited after being defeated 6-1, 6-3 by American Amanda Anisimova in the second round. After a hard-fought victory over Hailey Baptiste in her opening match, Boulter was overpowered by Anisimova. Her performance was undermined by seven double faults, and Anisimova sealed the win in one hour and 19 minutes with a cross-court backhand on her third match point.
“I’m super excited to be back in Beijing, I love playing here,” Anisimova commented after her victory. “I have a lot of fans here which is really nice, they were great today.”
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